CV-SALTS – Developing new approaches to protect Central Valley soils and water

The Central Valley faces a future where rising salt levels threaten to turn this productive basin into a land where the water is not fit to drink and land not capable of growing crops. It won’t happen tomorrow, or even next year, but salts are slowly and steadily contaminating water and soil, which are so important to agriculture and water supplies for more than 25 million people across the state.

The salinity problem is complex and multi-faceted, so a broad coalition of agriculture, cities, industry, and regulatory agencies have joined to together to develop a vision and plan for managing salts and nutrients. The Central Valley Salinity Alternatives for Long-Term Sustainability initiative (CV-SALTS) is a collaborative effort initiated in 2006 to find solutions to the salt problem in the Central Valley.

CV-SALTS participants are working together to develop a workable, comprehensive plan to address salinity, including nitrates, throughout the region in a comprehensive, consistent, and sustainable manner. The participants have established these goals: